Rail-clamping mechanism for railway cars



July 16, 1929. E. E. PETERSON RAIL CLAMPING MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Aug. 20, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet July 16, 1929. E, E, PETERSON 1,721,035

RAIL CLAMPING MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Aug. 20, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 16, 1929.

UNITED STATES ERNEST E. IPE'IERSON, OF SOUTH I-IIBBING, MINNESOTA.

RAIL-CLAMPING MECHANISM FOR, RAILWAY CARS.

Application filed August 20, 1928. Serial No. 300,619.

This invention relates to improvements in means for securing a railway car to the rails. It is particularly, although not exclusively, adapted for use upon track shifting machines of the type described in United States Patents Nos. 1,264,376 and 1,592,153. dated respectively April 30th, 1916 and July 13th. 1926. In such machines the car is provided with means for securing it to the rails and with power driven mechanism for bodily raising and shifting the car, rails and ties laterally, while elevated.

Heretofore it has been common practice to provide manually operable clamps for securing the cars to the rails and in all the old machines known to me the clamps are difficult and slow to operate and so constructed that they cannot be forced downward into engagement with the rails against obstructions such as earth, ice or snow which often lodge upon the rails. This last mentioned defect has made it necessary. when shifting track with a machine of the old type, to have a workman go ahead of the machine and remove obstructing substances from the web and flanges of the rails beneath the tread where the clamps engage. With the common track shifting machines an extra man must'be employed for matter from the rails. Other objects will appear and be more fully pointed out hereinafter. i j

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved, clamping mechanism mounted upon a railway car; Fig. 2 is a transverse section through the car and clamping mechanism taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical section through the clamp operating mechanism taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front elevation of the automatic throw-out and adjacent mechanism of the clutch; Fig. 5- is a plan view of the clutch mechanism; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary side elevation of a portion of the car and clamping mechanism and an alternate form of power driven clamp operating means; Fig. 7 is a horizontal section taken on the line i??? of Fig. 1 and Fig. 8 is a longi:

and a parallel. shaft 20 near the opposite end (Fig 3).

tudinal section through the upper part of one of the clamp carriers.

My invention is shown mounted upon a suitable car 10 having the usual flanged wheels 11 adapted to run upon a pair of rails 12 of common type. The rails 12 are held in spaced, parallel relation by ties 13. Upon the car 10 is mounted a motor or engine 14: and suitable mechanism driven by the motor for operating a spud 15. This spud has a shoe 16 adapted to engage the road bed for elevating the car, rails and ties and for shifting the same laterally while elevated. As the details of the spud and operating mechanism form no part of the present invention, such mechanism is not fully described or illustrated herein. Suitable track shifting devices are described and claimed in the United States patents above identified.

In one form of my invention I utilize an internal combustion engine 14 to quickly and positively actuate pairs of clampingjaws 17. To this end a sprocket wheel 18 is mount ed upon thecrank shaft 19 of the engine 14 of the car is arranged to be driven by a sprocket 21 on the latter shaft and a chain 22 connecting sprocket wheels 18 and 21. As

best shown in Fig. 2 the shaft 20 is supported at its ends in suitable brackets 23 which are bolted to the longitudinal frame members '24;

of the car. Keyed to the shaft 20 so as to lo tate therewith, but slidable longitudinally thereon, are clutch members 25 and 26 with .friction contact faces 27 of conical form (Figs. 2 and 5). The contact faces 27 of the clutch members 25 and 26 are adapted to engage conical recesses in clutch members 28 and 29, revoluable upon the shaft 20. Secured upon the adjacent faces of the members 28 and 29 is a pair of beveled gears 30 both of which mesh with a beveled gear 31 which is fixed upon a substantially vertical shaft 32 Bearings 33 are provided for the shaft 32 and these hearings are supported in an auxiliary frame 34-. -To retain the shafts 20 and 32 in the same plane and to maintain the operative connection between the gears 30 and 81, a sleeve 20" is mounted on the shaft 20 between the gears 30 and a stud 20 projects downward from the sleeve 20 into an axial recess in the gear 31. The shaft 20 is revoluable in the sleeve 20 and the gear 30 is freely revoluable about the stud 20".

A were .5 fi d 11 t e haft 32 is ar anged to ope Me an arcuate gear 36 keved to a horizontal shaft The latter shaft extends across the car and has bearings in the frame members 24: and Fixed upon the shaft 37 near each end is a crank 38 having a it'orwardly projecting arm 39 arranged to impart longitudinal reciprocating movement to a rod lO for operating one end of a clamp carriage. The clamp carriage. consists of a channel member 41 which is rigidly connected at each end by downwardly projecting arms 42 with a pair of supporting shafts for the clamp jaws 17. Guides ll for the channel members ell are arranged to engage the sides of said members and are provided with tr nsverse stops 4:") (Fig. 2) for downward movement of the clamp carriage. Between the vertical flanges on each of the channel memhers ll mounted a plate spring 46. the cer.- tral portion of which is connected, as best shown in 8, to the member 41.. The ends of the sprin s 45 normally project obliquely upward in spaced relation to the bottom of the channel members ll. Each end of each spring 46 is perforated to receive one of the rods e l-O and stops 47 are fixed on the latter rods to abut against the upper surfaces of the springs 46. At its lower end each of the rods 40 is bent laterally and inserted threu perforations in the adjacent ends of a. pair of toggle members 48. The outer ends of the toggle members 48 are pivetally.connected to upwardly projecting crank arms 49 severally fixed on the shafts 43. The clamping jaws 17 are rigidly secured upon the shafts 4- 3 so that oscillation of the shafts in the arms operates the clamps.

As best sh we. in Figs. 1, 2 and 6, each of the cranks 38 are provided, in additionto the forwardly projecting arms 39. with a downwardly projecting arm 50 connected by a link 01 to a similar downwardly projec inn; arm As shown in 1 each arm pivoted upon a shaft 53 and integral with another arm arranged to impart reciprocating movementto the clamp operating rod at the forward end of the clamp earriag'e. It will now be understood that two pairs of clampingjaws 17 are provided to cneach rail and that the mechanisms for operating the clamps at the respective sides of the car are similar.

To permit manual control of the opera tion of the power driven clamps, a clutch lever is provided. This lever has a pivot upon transverse member 57 of the auxil'ary Slidclutch members 25 and 2G. Secured in flanges 63 formed on the frame 34; and ex tending parallel to the shaft 20 is a guide rod 64-. This guide rod passes freely through perforations in the forks 62 and extends axially through a pair of coiled springs 65 which are confined between the flanges 63 and forks 62. These springs 65 normally maintain both of the sliding; clutch members 25 and 26 out of engagement with the clutch memhers 28 and 29.

To permit the retention of either of the clutch members 25 or 26 in driving engage ment with the companion clutch member, means are provided on the lever for selectively retaining it in positions correspond ing' to a notch 66 in the member at one side of the neutral position, or to a notch 67 at the opposite side. The retaining means comprise a detent 68 of any suitable or well known construction adapted to be operated by a small lever 69 (Fig. 1) upon the grip of the lever 55. The lever 69 is operatively connected by suitable linkage 70 with the detent Er. throw-out is provided for the detent 68 whereby the clutch is freed to take its neutral position automatically when the clamping" jaws 17 reach either extremity of their movement. This throw-out mechanism comprises a rocking member 7lpivoted at 72 on the frame member 60 and arranged to engage the detent 68 and raise it out of the notches 66 and 67. The rocking member 71 is pivotally connected at one side of its pivot with the upper end of an operating bar 73 which is slidable vertically in a suitable guide upon the frame 3-1. The lower end of the bar 73 is provided with av laterally projecting finger 75 extending into the path of lugs 7 6 and?!" secured to a face of the gear 36. By this arrangement the lug 77 is caused to raise the bar 7 3 and operate the rocking member 71 to throw the detent 68'0ut of the notch 66 when thearcuate gear 36 has been turned to oneextremity of its movement. hen the gear 86 reaches the other extremity of its movement the lug 76 strikes the finger 75' and draws the bar 73 downward totherebydisengage the detent 68 from the notch 67. Tn either case, when the lever isreleased it is moved, together withthe clutch members and 26, to neutral position by the action of the springs against one of the forks 62. Tn the alternate form of my device shown in Fig. 6 a cylinder 78 is provided with a piston 81 and suitable pipe corrections 79 and SO at oppositeends for admitting a suitable opcratin fluid under pressure. A piston rod 82 proje from one end of the cylinder 78 and is connected with a lever 83 secured at its lower end upon the shaft 37. The clamp earriage, clamping jaws and connections of the same with the shaft 37 in the alternateform are shown identical with the correspond ing parts above described in connection with the preferred embodiment.

Operation.

In the illustration of the preferred embodiment, I have indicated an internal combustion engine 14 as a suitable form oi motive power. Vhere such'a motoris employed it may be continuously operated to rotate the shaft through the sprocket wheels 18 and 21 and chain 22. Assuming that the clamping jaws and clamp carriage are in elevated position (indicated in Fig. 6) where the jaws are out-of engagement with the rails and that the clutch. lever 55 is in vertical or neutral position, the clutch members 25 and 26, keyed to the shaft- 21, are both out of engagement with their companion clutch members 28 and 29 respectively. The clamp operating gears 30 and 31 are now stationary. To secure the car upon the rails the clutch lever 55 is moved so that its detent 68 engages in thenotch 67 This slides the bar 58 to the right. as seen in Figs. 4 and 5 and causes the clutch member 25 to engage its companion member 28 which thereafter is rotated together with the gear 30. The gear 30 drives the gear 31 and shaft 32 carrying the worm 35 in mesh with the arcuate gear 36. Thus the gear 36 is slowly turned in a clockwise direction from the position shown in F 3 so that the shaft- 37 is pivoted together with the crank 38 carrying the arms 39 and 50. Each of the arms 39 through its connection with the rod 40 at one end of a clamp carriage, causes said end to be forced downward while an arm through the link 51 and cranks 52 and 54 depresses the rod 40 at the opposite end of the clamp carriage to an equal extent. Thus the clamp carriages at both sides of the car are moved downward between the guides 44. This movement of the clamp carriages continues until the channel bars 41 strike the stops 45 across the lower ends of the guides 44. During the downward movement of the carriages the clamping jaws 17 remain in open position because there is substantially no relative movement of the pivot shafts 43 and the rods 40, motion being transmitted to the carriage by the stiIT plate springs 46. However, when downward movement of the channel bars 41 is arrested by the stops 45 tilting movement of the arms 39 and 54 continues against the action of the springs 46 so that all four of the rods 40 are depressed relative to the pivot shafts 43. This causes the toggle members 48 to move. the clamping j 17 to closed po sition by pivoting the shafts 43 having the cranks 49.

As the springs 46 approach their complete- 'ly depressed position against the bottom of the detent 68 out of the notch 67 so that the springs are free to return the lever 55 and clutch members 25 and 26 to neutral position. Movement of the clamping jaws 17 is thus stopped when they reach their completely closed position and the jaws remain closed by reason of the nonreversible connection between the worm 35 and arcuate gear 36.

l/Vhen it is desired to remove the clamp connection between the car and rails, the lever 55 is merely thrown to a position where the detent 68 engages the notch 66. This, by rea son of the connection between the bar 58 and clutch member 26, causes the gear 31 to be driven in a direction such that rotation of the worm 35 is reversed and causes the gear 36 to turn in a counter clockwise direction. The operation of clamping above described is thus reversed so that the clamping jaws 17v are first withdrawn from engagement with the rail treads under the action of the springs 46 and are then raised together with the clamp carriages. As the clamp carriages ap proach the upper extremity of their movement bet-ween the guides 44 the lug 77 upon the gear 36 strikes the finger and raises the bar? 3 to disengage the detent 68 from the notch 66. The clutch members 25 and 26 under the action of the springs 65 are thus returned to neutral position and rotation of the worm 35 ceases.

The operation of the alternate form of my invention, shown in Fig. 6, will be readily understood. When it is desired to lower the clamping jaws 17 into engagement with the. rails, air or other suitable fluid under pres sure is admitted to the cylinder 78 through the pipe 80. This rocks the shaft 37through the lever 83 and causes the clamps to be forced downward and then to be closed upon the rails as above described in detail. Pressure is applied by the fluid in the pipe 80 to the piston 81 as long as the clamping action. is desired. When it is desired to withdraw the clamps from the rails pressure in the pipe 80 is released and fluid under pressure is admitted to the cylinder 78 through the pipe 7 9. This returns the mechanism to the position indicated in Fig. 6 where the clamp carriage is elevated free of the rails.

It will now be understood that my invention may be used with different types of power actuating means and that the device may be employed wherever it is desirable to securely clamp a'car upon the supporting rails. The invention is not limited in its application to machines for shifting track.

Having described my invention what I claim is new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is: I I

1. In rail clamping mechanism the combination with a rail and acar adapted to travel thereon, of a clamp carriage, positioned above said rail, guides for movement of said carriage toward and away from said rail clai-nping jaws arranged on said carriage to engage said rail, means adapted to positively move said carriage downward toward the rail and means for forcibly closing said jaws upon said rail.

2. In rail clamping mechanism the combination with a rail and a car adapted to travel thereon, of a clamp carriage positioned above said rail, guides for movement of said carriage toward and away from said rail, a plurality of pairs of clamping jaws arranged on said carriage to engage said rail, means for positively moving said carriage downward toward the rail and means for forcibly clos ing said aws upon said rail.

3. In rail clamping mechanism the combination with a rail and car adapted to travel thereon, of a clamp carriage positioned above said rail and extending parallel there to, guides for movement of said carriage toward and away from said rail, clamping jaws arranged on said carriage to engage said rail, power driven means adapted to move said carriage toward the rail and means for forcibly closing said jaws upon said rail.

4. The mechanism specified in claim 1 in which said carriage is provided with a pair. of shafts extending parallel to the rail, said shafts constituting pivotal supports for said clamping jaws and crank arms fixed on said shafts for connecting said jaws to said closin means.

0. The mechanism specified in claim 1 in which said carriage comprises a pair of shafts extending parallel to the rail, said shafts constituting pivotal supports for said clamping jaws, a bar parallel with said shafts and rigid arms connecting said bar and shafts.

6. The mechanism specified in claim 1 in which a stop for downward movement of said carriage is provided, a member of said jaw closing means constituting a connection between the carriage moving means and carriage, and a spring interposed between said member and carriage whereby said aws are retained in open position until downward movement of said carriage is arrested by said stop.

7. The mechanism specified in claim2 in which a stop for downward movement of said carriage is provided, a member of said jaw closing means constituting a connection between the carriage moving means and carriage, and a spring interposed between saidfor movement of said carriage toward and away from said rail, rail clamping means arranged on said carriage to engage said rail, a member for actuating said clamping means to engage the rail, said member being connected to said carriage for moving the same toward and away from the rail and means for actuating said member to lower said carriage and to close said gripping means upon the rail.

9. In a device of the class described, the combination with a rail and car adapted to travel thereon, of a clamp carriage positioned above said rail, guides for movement of said carriage toward and away from said rail, rail clamping means arranged on said carriage to engage said rail, a member for actuating said clamping means to engage the rail, a spring connecting said member to said carriage for moving the same toward and away from the rail and meansfor actuating said member to lower said carriage and to close said gripping means upon the rail.

10. In rail clamping mechanism the com bination with a rail and a car adapted to travel thereon, of a clamp carriage positioned above said rail, guides for movement of said carriage toward and away from said rail, a pair of clamping jaws arranged on said carriage to engage said rail, pivotal supports forsaid clamping jaws, toggle members operatively connected to said jaws, a rod for operatingsaid toggle members, a connection between said rod and carriage for transmitting movement to said carriage and permitting relative movement between said rod and carriage and means connected to said rod for raising and lowering said carriage and for opening and closing said j aws.

11. In rail clamping mechanism the combination with a rail and a car adaptedto travel thereon, of a clamp carriage positioned above said rail, guidesfor movement of said carriage toward and away from said rail, clamping jaws ranged on said carriage to engage said rail, an upwardly projecting rod for operating said jaws, a resilient connection between said rod and carriage for transmitting movement to said carriage and means connected to the upper end of said rod for raising and lowering said carriage and for opening and closing said jaws. a

12. In-rail clamping mechanism the com bination with arail and a car adapted to travel thereon, of a clamp carriage positioned above said rail, guides for movement of said carriage toward and away from said rail, a pair of clamping jaws arranged on said carriage to engage said rail, a pair of shafts extending parallel to said rail, said shafts constituting pivotal supports for said clamping jaws, a pair of crank arms for op- 1y connected to said cranks, an upwardly projecting rod for operating said toggle members, a resilient connection between said rod and carriage for transmitting movement to said carriage and means connected to the upper end of said rod for raising and'lowering said carriage and for opening and closing said jaws.

13. The mechanism specified in claim 1 in which said means for moving the carriage downward include a power driven worm a gear adapted to be turned by said worm and connections between said gear and clamp carriage.

14C. The mechanism specified in claim 1 in which said means'for moving the carriage downward include a power driven worm, a gear adapted to be turned by said worm, a shaft adapted to be turned by said gear, connections between said shaft and carriage and means for controlling the direction of rotation of said worm.

15. The mechanism specified in claim 1 in which said means for moving the carriage downward include a shaft, a worm on said shaft, a gear adapted to be turned by said worm, a second shaft adapted to be turned by said gear, a connection between'said second shaft and carriage and means for reversing the direction of rotation of said worm comprising a power driven shaft, a pair of clutches associated with said power driven shaft, gears arranged to be selectively driven through said clutches, said gears being operatively connected to said first mentioned shaft and manually operable control means for said clutches.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name to this specification.

ERNEST E. PETERSON. c 

